Post-War Lies

Germany and Hitler's long shadow
Malte Herwig (trans. Jamie Lee Searle, Shaun Whiteside)

'A very informative and nuanced study.'

Frankfurter Allgemaine Zeitung

'Malte Herwig has opened Pandora's box.'

Haaretz

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'A must read.'

Die Welt

A German bestseller

Post-War Lies is a superb portrait of a torn generation: the Nazi Party’s youngest members, those born between 1919 and 1927, who were raised on an ideological diet of racism and militarism. A number of them — from prominent politician Hans-Dietrich Genscher to writer Martin Walser — were later to become leading public figures in federal Germany.

In this meticulously researched book, Malte Herwig reveals how Germany handled these former party members. For nearly half a century, it was a case of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’. While the US government held captured Nazi records — such as the party’s central membership file — the German government used every available means to delay the return of the Nazi archive for half a century until the last top politician with a Nazi file had retired. Herwig also found a list of high-ranking German politicians whose Nazi membership files had been secreted between the 1960s and early 1990s.

Many of this generation kept quiet about their connection to the Nazi Party, or denied it, or pushed it to the backs of their minds and forgot all about it. Post-War Lies tells their hitherto unknown story, from the Third Reich to the post-war de-Nazification process and into the present. It is also a young historian’s contribution to an important contemporary debate about historical truth and human honesty.

'A very informative and nuanced study.'

Frankfurter Allgemaine Zeitung

'Malte Herwig has opened Pandora's box.'

Haaretz

View all reviews

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Details

Format:Paperback

Size: 234mm × 153mm

Extent:272pp

ISBN (13):9781922247650

RRP:£14.99

Pub date:6 Nov 2014

High-res cover:Download Image

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Malte Herwig

Malte Herwig is a reporter, broadcaster, and historian. He is known for his in-depth interviews and investigative features, and his articles have appeared widely in US, British, and German publications, including The New York Times, The Guardian, The Observer, and Vanity Fair. Herwig was the only journalist to interview former SS captain and convicted war criminal Erich Priebke.